Breaking Down Butte des Morts for Knockout Round
NEENAH, Wis. – When action shifted to Lake Butte des Morts Saturday for the Knockout Round of the Evinrude Stage Eight Presented by Tracker Off Road, the remaining 40 anglers’ gameplans changed from their approaches to Lake Winnebago.
The water in Butte des Morts tends to be dirtier, it’s still shallow, and there are less docks and rocks to fish for sure. Also, largemouth bass become the primary species caught, though smallies exist throughout the Winnebago system. Local anglers Matt Stefan and Curt Demerath share their knowledge this time around as does famous walleye tournament angler and Evinrude pro Tom Keenan, who stated: “I make money catching walleyes, but I love to catch bass.”
About Butte des Morts
“I’ll be honest, Butte des Morts is not my favorite lake to fish in the Winnebago system,” said Stefan, a guide and touring pro. “There’s a lot of area that doesn’t have great cover. For me, I’d look to find more current areas, either by the Highway 41 Bridge near the Fox River or west toward Winneconne. It’s primarily a largemouth bite for sure, but there are some smallmouth spots. You can find some rocky points with weeds that will hold smallies.”
Current and channels are important for finding bass, according to Keenan.
“Current is going to be a big deal on Butte des Morts,” said Keenan. “Anywhere you can find it, the bass will use it. Current with rocks and some weed. The closer to the Fox River you are, the more current and rock for sure. You can also find some on the main lake, but not a lot.
“Also, there are a ton of channels that go way back on that lake. Normally I wouldn’t go there this time of the year, but since we’ve had such a cold and late spring, I expect there to be plenty of largemouth in the channels, especially closer to the mouths of the channels. A guy could go back into one and really piledrive them.”
Demerath believes there is a good chance the MLF pros will be fishing for tournament-displaced bass when they’re on Butte des Morts.
“Some of the pros will be able to capitalize on retread bass towards the Winneconne Bridge,” Demerath said. “A lot of the local tournaments on the system are held there, and that’s where a lot of bass are released. It’s mainly a largemouth bass bite on this lake. You can find rock, weed, and wood towards the Wolf River. Some anglers regularly fish that area.”
“As far as the main lake, Butte des Morts is not a predominantly offshore bite. Any of the channels and ledges that you’ll find out there are usually full of walleyes. You can catch some bass in the area where the walleyes are, but it’s inconsistent.”
Predominant techniques on Butte des Morts will likely include flipping and pitching along with frog fishing, buzzbaits, swim jigs, bladed jigs, and possibly spinnerbaits. Crankbaits and tubes are popular choices fishing the rocks and current.